🔗 Share this article

Late-night television hosts this week trained their comedic fire on ex-President Donald Trump, criticizing his use of an ableist slur and portrayed as feeble efforts to address public concerns about his cognitive health.

Jon Stewart's Pointed Commentary

Beginning his monologue, Jon Stewart focused on a inflammatory Truth Social message in which Trump described Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with a highly offensive ableist term. "On the holiday?!" Stewart remarked. "Are you confusing that with your own personal grievance airing day?"

When questioned by reporters if he regretted the remark, Trump reportedly doubled down, insisting there was "something seriously wrong" with the Democratic governor.

"The issue is with him? With him?" Stewart retorted. "You were sitting with your family at Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, enveloped in the love of your extended crime family, but your first thought was to post an insult at Tim Walz? And there’s something wrong with him?"

The host then addressed Trump's bizarre explanation of a recently disclosed MRI. In an effort to dismiss concerns, Trump stated he had "zero knowledge" what part of his body was even scanned, suggesting it "wasn’t the brain" because he "aced a cognitive test."

"That is an impossibility," Stewart shot back. "Being completely unaware, it’s not possible. What could you possibly say to the doctor? ‘Wait, stop, don’t tell me. I want to find out at my MRI reveal party.’"

He continued, "For God’s sakes, man, were you not the least bit interested? When they laid you down in a tube for a half an hour, you didn’t want to know what they might be doing? Or did you just think to yourself, ‘This is a noisy tanning bed’?"

Stewart further ridiculed Trump's boast of a "flawless result" on the scan. "Apparently, that's the way they score the MRIs," he quipped. "It's either a big stamp, ‘Perfect,’ or you get in red ink, ‘See me.’"

The Late Show's Witty Observations

On his own program, Stephen Colbert pointed out increasing frustration among some one-time allies. "Certain supporters are starting to notice that Trump views them like livestock," he remarked, referencing criticism over building a gilded event space over tackling affordability concerns.

"Elsewhere, Trump celebrated Thanksgiving in his traditional way – with racism," Colbert quipped, referring to an inflammatory post from the weekend. "Somewhere in all of that nonsense," he summarized, the president employed the offensive term against Governor Walz.

After Walz responded to "Make the scan public," Trump promised release them, despite his stated unawareness of what was scanned.

"Uh, here’s a theory: maybe the part that’s broken is the part that’s meant to retain that information," Colbert suggested.

He then poked fun at the subsequent official explanation—a doctor's letter stating the MRI was for preventative screening. "OK, fair enough," Colbert said. "Men in his age group also benefit from retiring, so … can we get that ordered next?"

Jimmy Kimmel's Blunt Assessment

Jimmy Kimmel likewise condemned Trump's choice of words. "See, he can be presidential when he wants to be!" he remarked sarcastically. "It's puzzling why he didn’t get that Nobel peace prize. It defies all logic."

Regarding Trump's subsequent statement that he thinks "there is a problem" with Walz, Kimmel was direct: "yet another profound insight from the president of the eighth grade."

Kimmel also touched on Trump's insistence of record-high approval ratings. "Which means it’s not just books he can’t read," Kimmel said, pointing to survey data showing high negative ratings. "There are gas station bathrooms on Yelp with better reviews than Donald Trump right now."

The host concluded by criticizing Trump's promise to grant clemency to a imprisoned international drug trafficker. "Now some have pointed out the unbelievable hypocrisy of Trump tough on drugs elsewhere, while simultaneously pardoning a man who sent a massive quantity of cocaine to this country," said Kimmel. "But those people are just haters and losers, you know? Relax!"

"During his campaign, Trump made it very clear: his top priorities were a) pardoning drug kingpins and b) constructing a venue to host formal dances," he added. "Promises made, promises kept."